Chapter 15: Arm Strength of a Thousand Catties, Shooting a Deer at a Hundred Meters!

Returned home.

Qin Shuo immediately began to practice archery eagerly.

Zhang Damei and Zhang Xiong's successive moves made him feel the crisis.

He could, by refining the iron fetal bow a day earlier and hunting the five-colored deer, enter the inner city to practice martial arts a day earlier, even avoid disaster.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The bowstring trembled, emitting a powerful whoosh.

Qin Shuo focused completely; each time he drew the bow, he pulled the bowstring to a full-moon shape, his arm strength astonishing.

As his qi grew, the training effect of drawing the bow on his arms was no longer as before.

Even the refinement speed of the White Jade Ginseng King slowed down.

"This won't do; we need to find a way to increase physical exertion to refine the medicinal potency of the White Jade Ginseng King."

The White Jade Ginseng King is an important means for him to increase his qi now.

Before achieving success in martial arts, every increment of qi he gained gave him an extra bit of self-defense strength.

Thus, besides accelerating archery practice according to plan, Qin Shuo added the item of frog jumps while holding a stone base.

The effect was very significant.

In just a short day, Qin Shuo felt his qi had increased greatly.

Not only his arms, but also his legs, and even his waist.

Compared to half a month ago, Qin Shuo now could be said to be a completely different person.

Previously, he was as thin as a bamboo pole, just recovered from a serious illness; to say he was feeble would not be an exaggeration.

But now, he is like a human-shaped leopard, muscles full, physique agile, his whole body full of strength, vigorous and powerful.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

In the courtyard.

Qin Shuo drew the bow like a full moon.

Although he clearly had no arrow in his hand, Qin Lan, standing nearby, seemed to see a divine archer in armor, bow drawn, nocking an arrow, ready to shoot lions and tigers.

Bang!

The bowstring trembled, the sound like thunder.

Qin Shuo's fingers continuously pulled the bowstring, the thunderous sound came one after another, incessant.

【Ingredient: Iron Fetal Bow】

【Current refinement progress: 98%】

……

【Current refinement progress: 99%】

……

【Current refinement progress: 100%】

Boom!

At the moment the Iron Fetal Bow was completely refined, countless fragmented memories instantly surfaced in Qin Shuo's mind.

That was the life of the Zhang family's ancestor, who started as a hunter, step by step became a divine archer in the army, then retired and returned home, finally dying on his sickbed.

Moreover, the Zhang family's descendants, relying on their ancestor's archery skills, roamed the mountains and forests, founding a great enterprise.

Finally……

All returned to nothing.

Inside the Taotie Cauldron, the spiritual phantom identical to the Iron Fetal Bow vanished.

A string of text prompts popped up:

【Ingredient: Iron Fetal Bow】

【Current refinement progress: Refined】

【Refinement effect: Piercing a Willow Leaf at a Hundred Steps, Shooting Stone, Drinking Feather!】

"Finally refined!"

Qin Shuo's face showed a delighted smile.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, another string of text jumped out from beneath the Taotie Cauldron:

【Ingredient: White Jade Ginseng King】

【Current refinement progress: Refined】

【Refinement effect: Arm Strength of a Thousand Catties, Body Strong as an Ox!】

As the prompt text appeared, the White Jade Ginseng King, originally only as thick as a thumb, exploded with a 'pop'.

Immediately after, a mighty medicinal power flowed like a hot spring throughout his body, completely absorbed by his bones, tendons, flesh and blood.

Crackle!

His bones and tendons emitted a crackling like frying beans, a warm current flowed out from the gaps in his bones and flesh.

In an instant, Qin Shuo only felt his qi surge again, even his height increased a bit.

An unprecedented sense of power welled up in his heart.

His whole body brimmed with power; casually clenching his fist, his joints crackled.

At this moment, Qin Shuo felt unprecedented strength; even if a fierce tiger stood before him, he would dare to collide with it.

Of course, this is merely an illusion brought by the sudden surge of strength.

If he truly encountered a tiger, he would most likely only be able to flee, unable to match it in strength.

"With this thousand-jin arm strength and the Piercing Willow at a Hundred Steps archery skill, that five-colored deer cannot escape calamity."

Qin Shuo's eyes flashed with a sharp gleam.

Over these three days he had been painstakingly practicing, just waiting for his archery to reach perfection, so he would have the confidence to kill that five-colored deer in a single strike.

"Once we bag the five-colored deer and get the silver, I'll take Ah Lan into the inner city to study martial arts."

Qin Shuo made a decision in his heart.

These days he stayed at home practicing archery and tempering his body, and he had Qin Lan keep asking around for outside news.

In these few days, the Flying Bear Gang and the Sky Wolf Gang fought over a dozen battles, with countless casualties.

And the infected individuals in Firewood Fishermen's Workshop were also exposed.

It was the daughter-in-law of Wang Sheng's grocery shop; her husband's family is from the North District, and she had been staying at her parents' place recently.

She contracted the strange illness a few days after returning and kept it hidden.

She was exposed because she climbed onto the roof in the middle of the night and howled at the moon, which the neighbors saw.

Later, the constables came to her door, intending to take her away for quarantine.

But the Wang family daughter-in-law, stricken with the strange illness, had grown monstrously strong; several sturdy men could not hold her.

It was only after her husband sneaked up from behind and struck her unconscious that the constables took her away.

"This outer city is getting more and more chaotic." Qin Shuo sighed inwardly.

The next morning.

Qin Shuo went into the mountains early that morning with his iron-tire bow on his back.

He had already had Qin Lan quit her laundry job days ago; today she stayed home tidying up, preparing to move into the inner city.

Though said to be packing, there really wasn't much to bring.

Mainly some old items left by the previous owner's parents; he had Qin Lan pack them well to keep as a memento for the future.

As for whether he would encounter the five-colored deer today, Qin Shuo actually had no confidence.

He had already made a plan: if he didn't meet the five-colored deer today, he would hunt a large spotted deer instead.

Although an ordinary spotted deer is not as valuable as a five-colored one, added to their previous savings it would be enough for the siblings to stay in the inner city for a while.

These days the outer city is becoming ever more chaotic.

Especially that strange illness, which utterly overturned Qin Shuo's knowledge and imagination, as if he had been bewitched, making anyone who saw it feel terrified.

No wonder Zhang Xiong, despite having achieved success in his martial training, also wanted to flee.

This strange illness cannot be cured by human means.

Most importantly, we still haven't figured out how it spreads.

Who knows when one might fall victim to it?

He did not delay along the way.

Qin Shuo's goal for today was crystal clear: Black Wind Valley, the five-colored deer.

He traversed the mist-shrouded, gloomy mountains and forests.

Having made special markers on his previous return, Qin Shuo had no worry of getting lost; he followed the signs all the way toward the hot springs.

Gurgle—

The sound of flowing spring water came from ahead.

A familiar sulfur smell rushed into his nostrils, and the surrounding temperature gradually rose.

Qin Shuo knew his destination had been reached.

From far away he saw the deer herd leisurely grazing on grass in the valley.

And the five-colored deer he had been longing for was among them.

"Today I'll take you home!"

Qin Shuo suppressed his inner excitement, took out an arrow, nocked it on his iron-tire bow, and cautiously approached the herd.

The five-colored deer remained as vigilant as ever, lifting its head every so often to look around and stay on guard.

Fortunately the valley was not a flat plain but had undulating terrain, with many rocks and pits where Qin Shuo could conceal himself.

Three hundred meters, two hundred meters, one hundred meters…

Whoosh!

Qin Shuo hid behind a stone about a person's height, took a deep breath, drew his iron-tire bow to a full moon, and aimed at the five-colored deer over a hundred meters away.

Yo!

The five-colored deer, head down eating grass, seemed to sense something; its fur suddenly exploded and it leapt forward more than ten meters.

Qin Shuo had anticipated this.

Unlike ordinary beasts, exotic creatures have an extremely keen perception of danger.

Just as now, the five-colored deer hadn't seen Qin Shuo, yet it somehow sensed a threat and instinctively jumped to the side.

However, after refining his iron-tire bow, Qin Shuo gained the ability known as Piercing Willow at a Hundred Steps.

A hundred steps equals one hundred fifty meters.

Even if the five-colored deer leapt ten meters away, it would still be within Qin Shuo's shooting range.

Moreover, Qin Shuo was waiting for the very moment the five-colored deer was startled into leaping.

Because at that instant the deer is midair, unable to change direction, making it the perfect moment to loose an arrow.

Bang!

The bowstring trembled, like a thunderclap from a clear sky.

The arrow, whistling through the air, struck the heart of the five-colored deer as it leapt.

The tremendous kinetic energy drove the arrow deep into the deer's body, leaving only a small white fletching exposed, which was then dyed red by the spurting blood.

"Yoou!"

The five-colored deer cried out in pain, its body tilted to one side and fell to the ground, its legs kicking a few times before its life force ended.

【Hundred Steps Piercing Willow】, 【Shooting Stone Drinking Feather】, 【Thousand-Jin Arm Strength】

With these three abilities bolstering him, even if faced with a ferocious tiger, Qin Shuo would be confident in shooting it through.

Moreover, this five-colored deer was merely a small elk, its defenses not outstanding.

The sudden change startled the wild beasts in the valley, causing them to scatter in panic.

Especially the herd of plum blossom deer that had been grazing alongside the five-colored deer; they now bolted away, disappearing into the forest in the blink of an eye.

Qin Shuo stepped forward, hoisted the already-dead five-colored deer, and walked away.

His arms possessed a strength of a thousand jin; carrying an elk of just over forty jin posed no burden at all.